How GIS Has Changed Our World

In 2009, the NY Times mapped out Thanksgiving related search terms to see what people were thinking of preparing for their Thanksgiving meals across the country. Recipes for sweet potato pie was the highest search term. The top 50 searched recipes were mapped by state. Visit: What’s Cooking on Thanksgiving

Minnesota was the leader in raising live turkeys with 46.5 million birds (out of 248 million for the entire United States). 99.7% of imported live turkeys are from Canada. Wisconsin produced the most green beans (258,320 tons) of all the states. Wisconsin was also the highest producer of cranberries (430 million pounds). Illinois was the leader in producing pumpkins (427 million pounds). Sweet potatoes were produced in the highest amount in North Carolina (972 million pounds).

Linda Zellmer, Government Information & Data Services Librarian at Western Illinois University, created a series of choropleth maps showing production by state of common Thanksgiving food items for the years 1997, 2002, and 2007. Visit: Thanksgiving Maps & Posters